Letter to a Pastor celebrating Halloween

The Autumn of 2016, before I started Crack Your Bible, I was attending a local mega-church in Las Vegas. Like so many churches today, they had what amounts to simply a church-sponsored Halloween celebration with a non-Halloween name. Wanting to get involved more deeply with the church, I decided to volunteer for the event.

Growing up, my family didn’t celebrate Halloween, and as an adult, I’ve attended two costume parties for Halloween, one being a house party during university and my husband’s work event. While my participation in these two parties was me sitting on a couch in a historical costume (Marie Antoinette & Cleopatra) eating chips and making small talk with the other sober people, I still felt convicted. After volunteering at this church event – I felt terribly convicted in my spirit. When the event coordinator asked for feedback about the event from volunteers, I sent him this email and cc’d the pastor.

Because many people have contacted me about what to say to their pastor, feel free to use it as a template, but be forewarned, the pastor did NOT take kindly to my email, so don’t expect fantastic results.

Names and identifying information about this church have been redacted.

“Hi ———–!
I’m Rachel, and I was one of the three people running the cookie decorating station. I’d think the biggest take away
was that we needed a fourth person just to help turn over place settings. I had one person in charge of stamping and
cutting the tips off of icing bags, and I, along with the other woman helping, directed kids to their seats and reset each place setting after each child decorated and then we cleaned up. I also did some crowd control because originally there was no line.

There’s something that’s been on my mind though about (event) and listening to the sermon last week at the main
campus (I usually attend —— location) I knew I needed to write this email.
Before I begin, I want to let you know that my opinions are irrelevant, and whatever I say, I want you to put it to the test of the Scripture. (Acts 17:11, 1 John 4:1) If what I say doesn’t match up to the Word of God, please disregard this message.

I am not writing this to chastise you for your outreach efforts. Merely, I’m asking you to reconsider the theme of this outreach event for next year.
I noticed that this outreach event was definitely Halloween themed. From the pumpkin cookies with black and orange
sprinkles, to the cob web covered cars and kids in costume “trunk or treating” there was no mistaking that this was a
Halloween festival. People were even asked to buy kits from the church, to host get-togethers with their neighbors, where they would watch Halloween themed movies as a way to witness to their neighbors.

Now, I know that in this country, Halloween is considered a cultural event and people partake in the holiday even though they’re unaware of the history of this holiday. At the cookie decorating booth, a little girl asked her dad, “Dad, why do we celebrate Halloween?” He responded “Because it’s good to celebrate everything. I actually don’t know why we celebrate it though.” Yikes! We definitely shouldn’t, as Christians, “celebrate everything.” (1 Peter 4:3-4) Not only should we not partake in pagan practices, we should not do anything because it’s tradition (Mark 7:8-9.) We should know why we do what we do (1 Peter 3:15, Proverbs 25:2.)

Not only did I volunteer at this Halloween event, I made costumes for myself and my husband for his company’s party – as a costume was required for entry. I don’t celebrate Halloween, I don’t agree with the demonic history of the holiday, and
yet here I was this year, celebrating it. In my heart, knowing God’s commands, I was convicted that what I was doing was not only hypocritical, but wrong – because I know better. I came into agreement with God and repented.
Why was it wrong? Well, we’re absolutely not supposed to partake in pagan practices (Deuteronomy 18:9, Ephesians 5:1-13), and we’re not to sacrifice (1 Corinthians 10:20), or mimic sacrificing to demons (1 Thessalonians 5:22, Ephesians 5:12)

But what’s wrong with Halloween?
“The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in
Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain,
the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks.” – http://www1.cbn.com/questions/should-christians-celebrate-halloween

Our brothers and sisters in Christ in South Korea currently have to deal with the cultural traditions from the country’s pagan past, of ancestor worship, infiltrating the Church. In Christian Filipino homes, people are still venerating the dead. (Leviticus 19: 26, 28, 31, Deuteronomy 18:11) As Western Christians, we can clearly see that ancestor worship is incompatible with Biblical teaching and is a sure fire way to open yourself up to the demonic realm. Yet, somehow, in Western churches, we ourselves are blind to the fact that we have one foot in the church and another in the occult by celebrating Halloween (and Christmas, and Easter – Passion for Truth Ministries on Christmas and Easter:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAwkb2AcoO4 )

God never wants us to repurpose the things used for Satan to worship Him. God wants the tools of the Devil destroyed –not used to appeal to those who are still of this world.
“Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.” – Exodus 34:13

“Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.” – Deuteronomy 12:3
Not only during the reign of the judges, but the story in 1 Samuel 15:17-25 shows us that what God tells us to destroy, He wants destroyed – not used in service for Him. Israel ignored God’s command and Israel was torn in two. Saul was rejected as king. If God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) why would celebrating and using the things used by the occult today, in our church, be less offensive to God now?

We do not need to, nor should we, use the occult and its holy days as a way to outreach for Jesus. The disciples didn’t go to temple prostitutes or attend services for Molech as an outreach to non-Christians. We are set apart (Leviticus 20:26), we’re holy (1 Peter 2:9, Hebrews 10:10), we witness to others when we stand in opposition to, and refuse to participate in Satanic worship (Daniel 3, Daniel 6:10-23, Acts 14.)
Just as we usher in the Holy Spirit through our praises, our worship and our offerings, the occult uses their holy days to bring about the demonic into our midst. God does not want people to come to Him because of the testimony of demons (Mark 1:34, Acts 16:16-18) but because of His testimony (1 John 5:10) and the light that we shine (Matthew 5:16.)

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” – Ephesians 5:11

We have decided to take the kids bowling this year. This way we are not home for the constant knock at the door and they wont see all of the kids walking around in costumes. We will be enjoying family time eating pizza and bowling. Hopefully by the time we head home the streets will be clear!

Hi Rachel, hope you are well.
I agree. This was always a minor sticky issue between a dear ex girlfriend of mine and I. She, a Christian, found it harmless and fun, in fact her favorite ‘holiday’. I share your view on it, nothing holy about it. It wasn’t the ultimate reason we aren’t together now, but I always refused to participate and was considered a party pooper. So it played a part in our eventual breakup, surely in our Father’s eyes. Oh well.

Well said Rachel. What response did you get. I bet they did it again the next year and the next etc. Halloween is invading my country New Zealand and I have been against it from day one. The Holy Spirit doesn’t like it one bit that’s for sure. Keep up the good work Rachel. God bless you and give you even more boldness 😊😊😊

Thank you for your videos on pagan holidays and this letter. I feel the same way about Halloween. In fact, my two older children, who are grown now never celebrated it and neither do my two younger children. I thank God for your ministry and I must say, I’ve learned so much from you since I found your videos last month. I wish my pastor taught about the things you do concerning pagan holidays, praying in tongues, Jewish festivals, tithing etc. I will be supporting your ministry so you can keep bringing us the truth. I feel God convicting me of celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas since I saw your video-we stopped celebrating Easter a few years ago because I couldn’t keep dying the eggs and all the other nonsense that goes into it and it didn’t have anything to do with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. I love your video where you talked about walking around the neighborhood and praying, taking back our neighborhoods from the enemy. I have started doing that at the children’s hospital I work at. Thank you for speaking God’s truth into my life and everyone who watches your videos, it is desperately needed. May God continue to bless and keep you..

My church is doing T or T and also calling it a block party/outreach!
My pastor said that he believes that it would be the place where Jesus would be! Is there anything else other than what you wrote to your pastor that you would say to the person that justifies Harvest or Trunk or Treat, by saying what would Jesus do? and we need to go to where the sinners are?
t is hard to argue with wwjd but I don’t see in Bible where Jesus ever celebrated Pagan holidays to do an outreach and I like you said, “The disciples didn’t go to temple prostitutes or attend services for Molech as an outreach to non-Christians.”
My husband and I may speak to our pastor about this, just still don’t know how to defend what Jesus would have or not done.
If you do another video about this subject, perhaps you can address if you have not already. or a video all about What would Jesus do!

You are a blessing Rachel, God is using you to help me really see clearly.I am digging in my bible as never before!

That’s completely false. The Catholic Church renamed Samhain “All Hallows Eve” so that they could move into pagan territory and not have as much push back from the locals. NO PLACE in scripture even remotely celebrates anything resembling Halloween or Samhain.